A civil rights activist named Dick Gregory once said that," This is not a revolution of black against white; this is a revolution of right against wrong. And right has never lost." Black against white court cases of those days were the greatest influence on the civil rights movement. Cases like Dred Scott vs. Sanford, Shelley vs. Kraemer, and Brown vs. Board of Education all greatly affected the Civil Rights Movement and the world as we know it today.
The issue of Civil Rights goes back very far in history. In fact, it goes all the way to 1857, with the case of Dred Scott vs. Sanford. In this time slavery was very common and free black men and women were basically unheard of. Scott and his wife decided to sue for his freedom because
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When a house finally sold to them, 30 out of the 39 current house owners in the neighborhood signed a contract that stated no home could be sold to an "negro" (Shelley vs. Kraemer) family for the next 50 years. In the case, the ruling went in favor of the Shelley 's, giving them their home back. In addition, the whole covenant was ruled over by the owner of the neighborhood, who did not realize that the people buying the house were free blacks until the day of the purchase. Not to mention the multiple angry residents who made the contract in the first place. Shelley v. Kraemer was the first real freedom for African-Americans, however, it took a little over 90 years (the Dred Scott decision was 91 years before this case) for freedom of blacks to be fully recognized. And the freedom continued to prosper, especially in the case of Brown v. Board of …show more content…
The court cases of Dred Scott vs. Sanford, Shelley vs. Kraemer, and Brown vs. Board of Education all helped shape the Civil Rights Movement. Those cases all showed new freedoms to black people, as well as new hope for all Civil Rights Activists. By doing this, they enabled people like Martin Luther King, Malcom X, and John F. Kennedy to try and get rid of most of our ignorance today. But people should see the Movement from perspective of the people fighting to eliminate the horrible judgement and harassment that they face every day." I have a dream, that my four little children can one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Quoted by the famous Martin Luther